Sept.13, 07

This morning, I met Mr.Hansen, a Gr.4 teacher in Randall P.S. It was funny~ We were in the staff room, and he started talking to me. He's really friendly. He asked me how I'm doing, what grade I'm teaching, how am I getting used to it and things like that. But at that moment, I actually thought he's ANOTHER teacher, Mr.V, whose class is beside Ms.Lamba's class. So I felt really weird...'cause last week I talked to Mr.V, but he wasn't the very socializing type. So I was like...he's extra friendly today~ But then...Mr.Hansen introduced himself to me, and I almost laughed out loud haha~ I mixed up the two teachers! -_-" But they do look alike~

It's Day 3, so the students did Health in the first two periods. They learned about safety and prevention (E.g. fire safey, school safety, etc.) After they brainstormed a list of different kinds of safety, Ms.Lamba asked them to draw a title page for this unit. They can choose 4 different safety situations and draw them out. A girl, Kavinah, raised her hand to ask a question. She started, but said "nevermind" when Ms.Lamba didn't really understand her. But Ms.Lamba asked her to clarify herself, so she did, and the question came out much more clearly. I think it's very important to let students speak, and give them the chance to reformulate their question/comment. This will give them confidence in expressing themselves, and they'll know that their opinions are valued.

A lot of them are really creative and talented. There's a student, Anthony, who drew a picture about putting sunscreen in the beach to prevent sunburn. He drew a beach, a bench, and a pig lying on the bench. Someone went to him/it and asked if he wanted sunscreen, but he said he's ok. On top of this picture, Anthony wrote "Before". In the "After" picture, he drew the same setting, but the pig isn't there. Instead, lying on the bench is a piece of bacon!! I was like...wow~ that's really funny and creative! I know that he loves to read anime. That probably contributed to his creativity~ As long as a child loves to read, he'll learn from the material.

After recess, we did Math. Ms.Lamba taught the students 3 strategies to do adding with mental math -- Adding On, the Compensation Strategy, and the Estimation Strategy. After the lesson, they worked on the textbook questions. I circulated around to watch them, and answered questions when they needed help. I'm beginning to build a rapport with them, and I feel that they're comfortable of me being here. It feels great!

After lunch was Language. I pulled out Scholastic order forms from the books while Ms.Lamba read-aloud a chapter of Roald Dale's < Boys >. Then she handed out the Scholastic forms, and she gave students time to skim through the pages and talk amongst themselves. The classroom was quite loud, but all of the students were talking about what books they like and which ones they're going to get. I think the atmosphere was really great! After a reasonable amount of time, Ms.Lamba asked them to be quiet, and then asked them to go back to their desk and take out their Writer's Notebook. As homework, they've written about "The Worst Day of My Life". She asked them to read their writing in their head first, then share it with a friend. As they were sharing, I walked around and asked some of them to share with me. They shared and we laughed at the bad situations, and I made some comments as well. It was a fun experience!

When they were done, Ms.Lamba brainstormed with them a list of scary stories that have happened in their life. Then they wrote a list in their notebook individually. Then they were asked to choose one of the events and write a paragraph on it. They were a bit loud in the beginning, but Ms.Lamba quieted them down, and told them that they'll have the time to share later on, but not now.

After second recess, we did Science. The Grade 5s went to another classroom, but the Grade 4s stayed with us. They learned about habitats and foodchains. They took up the homework, and Ms.Lamba said that they'll be learning about producers and consumers next class.